Attacks in Paris/extraordinary meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council

In the face of the atrocious terrorist acts which hit France on 13 November 2015, our battle against terrorism must be fiercer and more resolute than ever. This battle must be stepped up further at every level, particularly the European and international levels.
Bernard Cazeneuve, Minister of the Interior, has therefore asked Mr Timmermans,
First Vice-President of the European Commission, and Mr Schneider, Minister of Security and representative of the Luxembourg presidency of the Council of the European Union, to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels on Friday 20 November.

The meeting should provide an opportunity to discuss, as practically and operationally as possible, several issues identified as priorities since the January attacks but for which the timetable for negotiation and implementation must be speeded up as a matter of urgency. Given the level of the threat hanging over the European Union, its member states and citizens, Europe must equip itself with an effective European PNR [Passenger Name Record], a framework for combating the financing of terrorism, and robust and effective legislation on firearms controls. The European Union member states must also step up their exchanges of information and set in motion systematic and coordinated checks on the European Union’s external borders, by means of a targeted review of the Schengen Borders Code.

On all these issues, concrete progress will have to be made as quickly as possible.
The Interior Minister wants to thank all his European counterparts for their messages of support in the ordeal France is going through, which we must face together./.

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